Baseball’s Hanwha Eagles narrowly escaped an eight-game losing streak by sacrificing the leaders, the LG Twins.
Hanwha defeated LG 5-3 in a visiting game of the 2023 Korean Baseball Organization at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on February 2.
It was a welcome respite for Hanwha, which had fallen to last place the day before.
Hanwha jumped out to a 3-0 lead after starting pitcher Ricardo Sanchez struck out six and held the LG bats to three hits and no runs over six innings.
In the second inning, Jang Jin-hyuk led off with a single to center field. In the sixth inning, Noh hit a cool two-run arch over the left-center field wall.
With his 30th home run of the season, Noh extended his lead over Choi Jung (SSG Landers, 24), who is second in the category.
He also became the first player in 20 years to hit 30 home runs in a single season at the age of 22 or younger, following former Hanwha Eagles commentator Kim Tae-kyun, who hit 31 at the age of 21.
For the second time this season, Noh also set the record for home runs against his former club.
LG tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning on Park Hae-min’s thunderous three-run home run with runners on first and third.
However, the joy of tying the game was short-lived, as reliever Go Wooseok collapsed in the top of the ninth inning.
He gave up a hit, a walk and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases with two outs before giving up a two-run single to left to Lee Jin-young.
LG had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth when Moon Bo-kyung led off with a single, but was thrown out at shortstop by Oh Ji-hwan. 토토사이트